Article: Great Value Round-the-World Tickets with Finnair & Lufthansa

[vmile]

@madrooster, on this site, who has commentated on this thread, is a TA who is excellent with the AY fares.

 

[cbourl]

With the LH fares, you would be booked into the following fare classes:

Economy:

• LH/OS/LX: L
• QF: O
• UA: L
• SQ: K

Premium Economy:

• LH/OS/LX: N (books into Y for intra-Europe sectors with no premium economy cabin)
• UA: Books into Q for domestic connectors in coach, not sure about long-haul
• QF: T
• SQ: L

Business:

• LH/OS/LX: P
• UA: P
• SQ: D
• QF: I

I have no idea what the sectors operated by United would earn though when crediting to UA MileagePlus as they are not transparent about this. It seems to be based on what United is paid, and that is not public information. I can report back in July after I've finished my current trip.

With AY, the Finnair flights book into T class on AY/QF (Premium Economy), I class on AY/QF (Business) and O class on AY/QF (Economy).

Miles earnt are as per UA website if crediting to UA MileagePlus Non -016 Ticket Just check out each carrier your would fly for sectors in my earlier post For other *A programs you could check your program's website
Mattg is quoting the booking classes for the cheapest Business Fare ie P Class LH/LX There are higher levels (I usually buy half D Base as Plus (viaEH TS) and combine with 1/2 D Global Base as these fares allow combinations of class and direction flown
The higher levels OF BOOKING in BUSINESS class are
LH/LX Z/D/C/J which work with AC Z/D/C/J Cathay I/D/C/J SQ U/J/C/Z QF I/IorD/IorD/I or D (I only for Domestic Sectors)
SAVER BASE FLEX refers to SAVER No Refund BASE 400AUD Refund Fee FLEX No Refund Fee

Post automatically merged: May 19, 2022

YUL was in relation to AY. This thread could get confusing! Perhaps the AY Q&A should switch to the existing thread on their RTW fares (now, if only I could find that thread!)….

Sorry then No Clue aka Keine Ahnung

 

[cbourl]

Per United's website, milage for flights operated by United, regardless of who issues the ticket is based on fare. This was one of the "enhancements" UA brought in 2020. There is a separate milage chart for UA operated flights on speciality tickets (don't know if this would qualify) which is based on distance flown.

That being said, based on the prices I'm seeing I tend to agree that these represent great value. Would be curious what the economy (and potentially premium economy) fares book into for these partners as for me these represent the best value for a traveller on a budget who wants to boost their airline status for minimal cost.

-RooFlyer88

Sorry about that didn't pick it up that you were specifically talking about United sectors but I think the same applied when I last flew this fare August 2019. EWR-SFO earnt 7689 miles and SFO-SYD 10000 Miles on My D class Eh/AP combination Ticket.
A flight EWR-LAX in Business P a few days in between with $$$ Calculation earnt 5797 miles (2635 Base and 1kBonus 3162 PQM were 3681 and PQD 527), in Y a flight LAX-EWR V Class earnt 3190 Miles (1450 Base, 1740 Bonus, 2454 PQM and PQD 290)
Forgot to add Economy Fare levels for the Lufthansa Group Fares:
AC/LH/LX are from lowest to highest l/t/s/w/v/q/h/u/m/b/y which correlate with
Cathay W/S/V/V/L/L/M/K/H/B/Y
SQ K/V/V/N/Q/W/H/M/E/B/Y
UA L/T/S/W/V/Q/H/U/M/B/Y
QF O-Q/O-Q-N/O-Q-N/O-Q-N-S/O-Q-N-S/O-Q-N-S/O-Q-N-S/O-Q-N-S-L FOR REMAINING UPPER TIERS
VA S/T/T/V/V/N/N/E/E/B/B

 

[MaudedAnvers]

One question please: if you buy this Lufthansa RW fare in whichever class one may choose, do the Qantas flights do they count in one's Star Alliance membership or are the points lost? Also if one buys this ticket but is Lifetime Gold Qantas can we use the QF membership when flying Qantas or since it is a Lufthansa ticket are the QF segments excluded for QF points?

 

[Mattg]

Thanks for that! I notice in the article there are different types of economy classes sold for the RTW ticket (i.e. Econ Basic, Econ Basic Plus and Econ Flex for LH Group) do you happen to know whether that impacts the fare class ticketed (i.e. Econ Flex ticketing into say an M fare)? If it does, then an argument could be made for forking over the extra $100-$200 if that means earning more milage, getting cheaper upgrades and having the additional flexibility built into the ticket.

The fare classes are the same. The only thing that changes is the ticket flexibility.

One question please: if you buy this Lufthansa RW fare in whichever class one may choose, do the Qantas flights do they count in one's Star Alliance membership or are the points lost? Also if one buys this ticket but is Lifetime Gold Qantas can we use the QF membership when flying Qantas or since it is a Lufthansa ticket are the QF segments excluded for QF points?

You can credit the Star Alliance sectors to a Star Alliance program, and the Qantas sectors to a Oneworld program if you want.

 

[baarg]

This is like a new world to me. May I humbly ask how do you guys find these things out, I.e. how do you look for the flights, etc.? Are there any tools online, websites (for a newbie)? I think I've been missing out on all these opportunities! E.g. a few months ago I used points plus pay to book a holiday with Qantas..and later I found that this is not what you use points for effectively! I'd like to see to use around the world to SA as I've been finding it very challenging (and expensive!)

 

[elvee]

This is like a new world to me. May I humbly ask how do you guys find these things out, I.e. how do you look for the flights, etc.? Are there any tools online, websites (for a newbie)? I think I've been missing out on all these opportunities! E.g. a few months ago I used points plus pay to book a holiday with Qantas..and later I found that this is not what you use points for effectively! I'd like to see to use around the world to SA as I've been finding it very challenging (and expensive!)

These fares are generally only available via travel agents; there are some mentioned in the thread

 

[cbourl]

One question please: if you buy this Lufthansa RW fare in whichever class one may choose, do the Qantas flights do they count in one's Star Alliance membership or are the points lost? Also if one buys this ticket but is Lifetime Gold Qantas can we use the QF membership when flying Qantas or since it is a Lufthansa ticket are the QF segments excluded for QF points?

QF sectors credited to QF if you add QFF # to booking, as are credits. (Also Cathay into/out of Australia and they have flights) The Star Alliance airline flights can be credited to any Star Alliance FF program I use it to top up my Qantas, Lufthansa and United flyer accounts You can change frequent flyer #s before each sector when you ckeck in

 

[RooFlyer]

This is like a new world to me. May I humbly ask how do you guys find these things out, I.e. how do you look for the flights, etc.? Are there any tools online, websites (for a newbie)? I think I've been missing out on all these opportunities! E.g. a few months ago I used points plus pay to book a holiday with Qantas..and later I found that this is not what you use points for effectively! I'd like to see to use around the world to SA as I've been finding it very challenging (and expensive!)

One of the best ways is to keep following, and engaging with AFF. Ask questions all over the place - we've all done it when starting off. Try to keep the questions clear and concise and post in the right forum. (I see you've made a number if posts, so apologies if this is the bleeding obvious ). No such thing as a dumb question here. It'll take a bit of time to get into the nitty-gritty.

Also, subscribe to AFF Gazette (see bar at the top of the page), and the AFF pod cast (see under Member Services on the top bar). Lastly, consider going to an AFF 'event' - there's an annual meeting (in Newcastle this year), or social ones, like wine tours that get offered occasionally. There you can grill people on specific details!

* This advertisement was not paid for by AFF

 

[ellen10]

Very interesting article and more to think about in planning our next overseas jaunt.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

One question please: if you buy this Lufthansa RW fare in whichever class one may choose, do the Qantas flights do they count in one's Star Alliance membership or are the points lost? Also if one buys this ticket but is Lifetime Gold Qantas can we use the QF membership when flying Qantas or since it is a Lufthansa ticket are the QF segments excluded for QF points?

Others have answered the earing side, but on the lounge and other benefits, 'yes' they would apply prior to the Qantas flights on the ticket (so priority check in, lounges and boarding etc).

 

[Mattg]

It is so damn expensive flying to Dubai and so few options.

Someone in another thread asked about this, so I had a bit of a think.

It would be possible to fly Qantas to Delhi, then Finnair from Delhi to Europe. Return home via North America. Then, book a separate side trip from Delhi to Dubai (e.g. on Emirates using Qantas points, which has good availability even in J/F). DEL-DXB is around a 3-hour flight.

E.g. you could fly on the Finnair fare:
CBR-MEL-DEL on QF
(Side trip DEL-DXB-DEL on a separate ticket)
DEL-HEL-LHR on AY
LHR-HEL-LAX on AY
LAX-SYD-CBR on QF

 

[I love to travel]

Utilising Lufthansa or Swiss fare, are you allowed to get an internal flight in US eg NYC to LAX and then connect onto Qantas for the flight back to Oz?

 

[Mattg]

Utilising Lufthansa or Swiss fare, are you allowed to get an internal flight in US eg NYC to LAX and then connect onto Qantas for the flight back to Oz?

Yes. The domestic flight would be on United.

 

[dflyerau]

Can the Finnair business fares be constructed online or does a travel agent need to do it manually?

 

[SYD]

Can the Finnair business fares be constructed online or does a travel agent need to do it manually?

Need a TA.

 

[dflyerau]

And also can someone recommend a great TA to construct some fares in July for Aus - Europe - US - Aus?

Thanks

 

[SYD]

And also can someone recommend a great TA to construct some fares in July for Aus - Europe - US - Aus?

Thanks

@madrooster is here. Plus Roundabout travel specialise in these fares but your local bricks and mortar should be able to do it also.

 

[dflyerau]

@madrooster is here. Plus Roundabout travel specialise in these fares but your local bricks and mortar should be able to do it also.

We rang Roundabout and whoever answered was useless. I used to work as a TA so I’ve got high standards haha. Someone that can construct complex itineraries and find availability were it may appear scarce.

 

[cbourl]

We rang Roundabout and whoever answered was useless. I used to work as a TA so I’ve got high standards haha. Someone that can construct complex itineraries and find availability were it may appear scarce.

As I posted earlier it is very very hard to find travel agents who are fully versed in these fares. You have to fight - or the agent can't be bothered doing the work. The Lufthansa Group Fares have 5% commission built into the base fare, and you may find travel agents will discretely also top up their commission. For the LH Group fares I recommend LH direct through their call centre or else try Travelmanagers.com.au